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March 2022 Social Media Platform Updates

Thursday 31st March 2022

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March 2022 Social Media Platform Updates

Thursday 31st March 2022

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We’ve reached the end of March, a month that was absolutely jam-packed with fresh updates and new releases from all of our favourite social media platforms! Plenty of fun and useful features have been launched for both marketers and casual users - join us as we recap and review a selection of them below.


Automated Captions for Instagram Videos

Following the launch of its automated captions sticker for Stories last year, Instagram announced at the start of March that this option is now available for regular feed videos too. This will improve accessibility for users in the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, as well as providing a better experience for those who prefer to consume video content with the sound switched off, such as commuters using public transport.


 

Enhanced Tags on Instagram

Instagram users can now give more detailed credit to the people they have collaborated with on their posts, thanks to the arrival of Enhanced Tags. If a creator has chosen a category for their professional account, such as photographer, makeup artist or stylist, this role can now be displayed beside their name on the tag, giving viewers an instant overview of what that person specifically contributed to the photo.

 
 

Career Break Option on LinkedIn

After launching an initial variation of a Career Break option last April, LinkedIn has now fully rolled out the feature to all users, enabling people to add more context to explain any gaps in their career history, with a range of alternative job titles and roles available to choose between. These include full-time parenting, bereavement, caregiving, a gap year, or other life events that may arise.

Outlining their motivation behind the addition of this tool, LinkedIn said: “Over the past few years, we’ve seen these work pauses increase even more as the pandemic upended the traditional workplace. Many people were forced to leave their jobs; others chose to take a career break to better manage life outside of work”, and: “We are hoping this new feature will make it easier for candidates and recruiters to have open conversations around the skills and experiences professionals amass away from the traditional workplace.

 
 

Spaces Clips on Twitter

Twitter has started trialling a clip sharing option for Spaces, its live podcasting platform - most likely in an attempt to keep up with its main competitor Clubhouse, which released its own version of this feature last September. This will allow broadcasters to get more use out of their Spaces content, as they can now distribute 30 second snippets from their recent shows via their tweets, with a link back to the full recording so listeners can check out the whole episode if they wish.


 
 

Reactions for Facebook Reels

In order to encourage more engagement and add a new level of interactivity to Reels, Facebook is developing a reactions option, which will let users choose an emoji to represent how they feel about the Reel they’ve just watched. The 7 reactions are the same as those available under regular posts. At the moment, on both Facebook and Instagram, viewers can only like or comment on Reels - but soon, when the reactions ability is rolled out to everyone, they will be able to show their appreciation to the creator in a more fun and speedy way.


 
 

Product Tagging for All Instagram Users

Previously, only approved creators could tag shoppable products in their posts on Instagram - but now, as part of the platform’s ongoing eCommerce push, this option is available to all users. This means everyone on the app can add links to the brands and items they’re loving when uploading photos and videos (however, it’s worth noting that a business or creator account is still required to tag products in Stories and Reels).

This update will hopefully provide a big boost for businesses, who will now receive a notification whenever someone tags one of their products, and a new ‘tagged content’ section will appear on their profile. Brands will also be able to control who can tag their products, and remove tags if they feel they have been tagged incorrectly or in inappropriate content. Learn more about shopping on Instagram in our extensive guide here!


 
 

Keyword Search in Twitter DMs

Twitter users can now search for specific keywords within their DMs, making it easier to track down past interactions, find products and people mentioned, locate shared links and more. This could prove to be particularly useful for Community Managers who handle their brand’s incoming Twitter messages natively on the platform rather than using a third party inbox, as it will now be much quicker to scan through conversations and therefore provide a higher standard of customer service. When searching for a keyword, the results will be filterable into 4 categories:

• All: Displays all the results for your search term

• People: Displays relevant usernames based on your search term

• Groups: Displays any group chats which contain your search term

• Messages: Displays any keyword matches in specific DMs


 
 

Cross-Platform Sharing for Idea Pins

Idea Pins, which are Pinterest’s version of Stories, can now be downloaded and shared on other social media platforms, including Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, Snapchat and TikTok, allowing Pinners to share their content with their existing audiences on other apps and reach new fans. When a user taps on Download, all the pages of that Idea Pin will join together into a watermarked video, which can then be uploaded elsewhere. An end card with the creator’s name and Pinterest username will appear at the end of the video to let viewers on other platforms know where it was originally posted, and who by.


 
 

Twitter Shops Development

Twitter is following in the footsteps of its fellow social media platforms by gradually developing its own approach to eCommerce, with some more tests of profile shops, which are currently only accessible for US users on iOS.

When you go to the profile of a merchant that has Twitter Shops enabled, you’ll see a View Shop button just above their tweets. When you tap the button, it will open up their shop, where you can scroll through their items (sellers can choose up to 50 products to showcase). When you’re ready to purchase, simply tap on the product which will open an in-app browser where you can read more details and checkout on the merchant’s website. Plus, the recently renamed Shop Spotlight (previously called the Shop Module) allows brands to highlight up to 5 special products directly at the top of their profile, meaning they’re the first thing visitors will see.


 
 

TikTok GIPHY Integration

GIPHY has been the GIF and sticker browser of choice on platforms like Facebook Messenger and Instagram Stories for a long time, and now it has joined forces with TikTok too, allowing users to select from lots of popular animated content which they can integrate into their TikTok videos. This is part of a brand new Library option on TikTok, which will eventually be populated with media from other creative platforms as well, not just GIPHY. As well as regular silent GIFs, users can add GIPHY Clips, which are GIFs with sound - including general reactions, memorable catchphrases and quotes from notable personalities, celebrities, TV characters and iconic moments.


 
 

Facebook Messenger Shortcuts

In order to streamline the messaging process, Facebook Messenger announced the arrival of Shortcuts, a series of simple, universal commands that users can type at the start of their chats to more easily share announcements, make payments and activate other in-app functionalities. These shortcuts include:

• @everyone: All participants in the chat will be notified of your message

• /silent: Members of your chat will not receive a notification of your message at all - similar to Do Not Disturb

• /pay: Coming soon, this shortcut will make it even quicker to send and receive money in your one-on-one conversations

• /gif: Coming soon, type your search term after this shortcut and a selection of relevant GIFs will pop up, meaning you’ll no longer have to tap through to the separate GIF browser

• /shrug: Coming soon, this will bring up the old-school ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ emoticon

• /tableflip: Coming soon, this will bring up the old-school (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ emoticon

 
 

Professional Twitter Accounts for Everyone

Twitter users no longer need approval to convert their profile to a Professional Account, which is described as “a new tool that allows you to have a unique and clearly defined presence on the platform.” Professionals have access to a range of additional features, including a business information display, product listings, a newsletter module (for those that have a Revue newsletter) and more. Although this option is now easily selectable in your settings, in order to qualify, you still need to adhere to a few regulations - such as not having a history of repeatedly violating the User Agreement, having a complete profile with an account name, bio and profile picture, and not using a fake or deceptive identity.


 
 

Summary

What have been your favourite new arrivals this month? We’re always on the lookout for fresh ways for brands to engage and interact with their audiences, as well as updates that make our social media experiences more intuitive - so feel free to tweet us @3sixfivepro and let us know if we’ve missed anything!


 
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